Fife Council to drive down roadside litter in Leven

Fife Council has launched efforts to stem the increase in roadside litter in Leven following the opening of a new McDonald’s drive thru in the area.

We were pleased to support the council as they joined forces with McDonald’s to encourage road users to be considerate with their refuse and ‘Give their litter a lift, take it home’.

On Tuesday, 26 February we joined the council and the restaurant and to launch the initiative, with support from the local Parkhill Primary school’s Eco-Committee. In a statement, they said:

“Our Eco-Committee does not think that McDonald’s creates more litter in Leven, the problem is the people who drop it on the streets rather than putting git in the bin. It is the same in our school playground.

“We wish more people would be responsible for taking care of their own rubbish and keeping our streets clean.”

With 91% of the public feeling roadside litter creates a negative impression of Scotland and over half of roadside litter coming from people eating and drinking in their vehicles, addressing the issue requires everyone to play their part.

McDonald’s do this by carrying out regular litter-picks and they have also erected messaging encouraging customers to bin their litter or take it home.

Councillor Ken Caldwell, Convener for Levenmouth Area Committee said:

“The litter strewn on Leven's roadsides is coming from drivers who are not disposing of their rubbish appropriately. Roadside litter is difficult and dangerous to clean up. We ask that people take responsibility for their litter and dispose of it in a bin or take it home with you.

“We don’t want our town blighted with litter. We want it to be a beautiful place that locals can be proud of and tourists are keen to visit."

Roadside litter creates a problem because it puts road workers at risk when they clean it up, but it is also an eye-sore to beautiful towns and landscapes, damaging natural habitats and is harmful to wildlife.

Our Roadside Litter Campaign Officer, Georgina Massouraki, said:

“We are delighted to see Fife Council working with McDonald’s in Leven and taking a proactive approach to try and stem growing issues with roadside litter.

“We know that the majority of people in Scotland (nearly 70%) would not, under any circumstance, drop litter from their vehicle, so it is the bad habits of the few that create this problem.

“We hope that our campaign will help encourage them to do the right thing. Don’t abandon your litter on the roadside. Just ‘Give your litter a lift, take it home!”

The campaign will also be linking in with the Spring Clean 2019 in April and May this year, with opportunities for people to get involved.